Tag Archives | senate

Senator Ed Markey is trying to determine the extent to which modern cars are vulnerable to attacks by hackers.

Imagine someone setting off an airbag in a car by tricking the sensors into believing it had come to a sudden stop. Or driving a car into oncoming traffic. Or just stealing location data.

“I write to request information regarding your company’s protections against the threat of cyberattacks or unwarranted invasions of privacy related to the integration of wireless, navigation and other technologies into and with automobiles,” wrote Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, in a letter to Daniel Akerson, CEO of General Motors, earlier in December. Markey sent similar letters to 19 other major car manufacturers, asking about the defenses car electronics contain against these intrusions.

Many senators began this week still uncommitted on whether they’ll vote for attacking Syria. Among the fence-sitters are enough “progressives” to swing the Senate’s decision one way or the other.

That decision is coming soon — maybe as early as Wednesday — and the Obama White House is now pulling out all the stops to counter public opinion, which remains overwhelmingly against a war resolution. The administration hopes to win big in the Senate and carry momentum into the House, where the bomb-Syria agenda faces a steeper climb.

Some Democratic senators who’ve cultivated progressive reputations nationwide — Barbara Boxer of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Al Franken of Minnesota — haven’t hesitated to dive into Obama’s war tank. Boxer, Durbin and Franken quickly signed on as carnage bottom-feeders, pledging their adamant support for the U.S. government to attack yet another country.

Other Democrats, like Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Tom Udall of New Mexico, have made clear their intention to vote “no” when the war-on-Syria measure reaches the Senate floor.… Read the rest

Overall, political action committees and employees from defense and intelligence firms such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, Honeywell International, and others ponied up $1,006,887 to the 17 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who voted yes or no on the authorization Wednesday, according to an analysis by Maplight, the Berkeley-based nonprofit that performed the inquiry at WIRED’s request.

Committee members who voted to authorize what the resolution called a “limited” strike averaged $72,850 in defense campaign financing from the pot. Committee members who voted against the resolution averaged $39,770, according to the data.

Jon Stewart takes a moment to have a heart-to-heart with his viewers on the cycle of craziness and patriotism after the Arizona tragedy. As he stumbles through trying to make sense of the incident he reminds us that whether politics or visual violence was a factor behind the motivation of the killings, "you cannot out smart crazy."

It is always a good idea to know when your mic is on, especially if the event is televised. However, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) wasn't caught saying anything he hasn't already said to his Colorado citizens. It's too bad that a faulty audio situation is what gets your voice heard on the Senate floor. From The Raw Story:

Is the US Senate "rigged"? It may be, at least according to one Democrat whose words of candor were picked up by a hot microphone on the Senate floor, the audio of which was broadcast live by C-Span 2 on Tuesday afternoon.
"Because -- because ... It's all rigged," Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) said, speaking to a female colleague as fellow Senators voted. "I mean, the whole conversation is rigged," he went on. "The fact that we don’t get to a discussion before the break about what we’re going to do in the lame duck, is just rigged. This stuff's rigged."

If someone meets the U.S. Senate candidate requirements (at least 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen for nine or more years, and having residency in the state where campaigning) are they equipped to run for election? South Carolina seems to think so.
Alvin Greene, a 32 year-old unemployed veteran, won 60% of votes at the Democratic primary. His inexperience in politics and minimal campaigning strategy gave rise to many questions and conspiracy theories. Given Greene's simplistic interviewing responses, the question of why he won is still unanswered. Did Greene win because his name was first on the ballot? Was he planted by the Republican party? How does an unemployed man, living with his father after being discharged from the Air Force fund a $10,440 filing fee with little to no fund-raising? What are the details to his felony obscenity charge from his arrest last year? Keith Olbermann addresses these questions in an interview on MSNBC: